Fastening device for knockdown furniture.



No. 793,256. PATENTED JUNEBV, 1905.

F. B. WILLIAMS FASTENING DEVICE FOR KNDGKDOWN FURNITURE.

APPLIUATION FILED BEPT. 21. 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905.

FITZALLAN B. IVILLIAMS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR KNOCKDOWN FURNITURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,256, dated June 27, 1905.

Application filed September 21, 1904. Serial No. 225,317.

To (all, whom, it 'nm/y concern:

Be it known that I, FI'IZALLAN B. WVILLTAMs, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastening Devices for Knockdown Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to means for attaching or securing together the separable parts of articles of knockdown furniture and other articles like partitions, boxes, cases, or any parts ordinarily connected with screws, nails, glue-blocks, corner-irons, mortises, and the like, and comprises companion plates having bearing-surfaces severally adapted to be attached by screws or nails to the parts of furniture to be connected and provided with meeting surfaces having engaging features and a locking-piece for locking them firmly together or releasing them when desired; and the object of the improvements is to provide a device of this character having certain details of construction which will be applicable to such use in the manner hereinafter particularly described. I have obtained this object by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation showing two parts in fragment of an article having a fastening device containing my present invention applied thereto and shown in edge view. Fig. 2 is a view of the same parts, but shows one member of the article and of the fastening device in plan view. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. at is a detail showing an edge view of the detached male part of the device. Fig. 5 is a detail showing a bottom view of the detached female part of the device. Fig. 6 is a detail showing a top view of a detached locking-piece.

1n the drawings the numerals 1 and 2 designate the connected parts of the article of furniture. The male part 3 of the connecting device is secured to the part 2 by screws 4, and the female part 5 and locking-piece 6 are secured to the part 1, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

The part 3 comprises a plate provided with a bearing-surface and screw-holes for fastening it to the part 2, with the rear edge 7 flush with the end thereof and a tapering arm or projection 8, having a lateral and forward extension 9, Fig. 3, from the main portion of said arm.

The part 5 comprises the flat or level part 10, adapted to lit as a bearing-surface against the part 1 and the perforated raised part 11 extended from the central portion and recessed at the bottom, there being a tapering recess 12 in the rear edge extending through the level part and considerably into the recess of the raised part 11, Figs. 8 and The locking-piece 6 comprises a wedge-like centrallyperforated disk provided with a cam-flange 13, extended around one side for more than half the circle, and a perforated handle or lever 1+1, by means of which said locking-piece can be turned and secured in locking position. The disk will slide under the raised part 11, so that a screw can be passed through the perforations of both said parts, Figs. 3 and 5, and enter the part 1 for holding the disk in place and permitting it to revolve. \Vhen the disk is turned in one direction, the thinner end of the cam-flange 13 and the lowest side of the disk will be brought just clear of the recess 12, and the tip of the arm 8,with the extension 9,can now be brought against and under the part 1.1 upon the disk and within the radius of the cam-flange, so that by turning the disk in the opposite direction the cam-flange will pass behind the extension 9 and bear increasingly against it at the rear side as the turning progresses, causing the tip and sides of the arm to be drawn into the recess and bear so hard against the apex and sides of the recess 12 as to hold the parts 3 and 5 firmly together. The wedgelike surface of the disk passing under this extension 9 produces a lifting effect, whereby the forward part of said extension is pressed up against the part 11. In this position they may be secured by means of a screw passed into the part 1 through the perforation at the end of the lever 14: or any equivalent means. By means of extensions 16 at the bottom edge of the part 3 and corresponding recesses or undercuts 17 of the part 5 the portions of the meeting surfaces of said parts located at the points 16 and 17 or base of the arm will engage in a manner similar to that of the extension 9 with the part 11 when the meeting surfaces are brought together.

The invention in this case is distinguished by the certain details of construction of the companion parts, the manner of their locking, and the manner of application of the cam thereto, as above described. The cam and a locking-point of the meeting surfaces at the extension 9 are located at considerable distance from the junction of the parts 1 and 2, which without increase of size or weight of parts affords comparatively greater strength for resisting strain so applied as to spread the parts 1 and 2 into an angle of greater magnitude than a right angle. The same camsurfaces also hold the locking-points at 16 and 17 in engagement when bearing upon the rear side of the extension at 9, which affords a similar advantage for resisting strain so applied as to turn the parts 1 and 2 into an angleof less magnitude than a right angle.

What is claimed is 1. In a device of the class described, the companion parts having bearing-surfaces and meeting surfaces and screwholes, one of said parts having a tapering recess in its meeting surface and a tapering arm adapted to fit said recess, the tip of the arm having a lateral and a forward extension adapted to engage the apex of the said recess and pass under the recessed part, in combination with a rotatable locking piece having a peripheral cam provided with inclined bearing-surfaces adapted to engage the arm-tip to draw the arm into the recess and lift it up against the under side of the recessed part, as specified.

2. In a device of the class described, the companion parts having bearing surfaces, meeting surfaces, screw-holes, and the features 16 and 17, .one of said parts having a tapering recess in its meeting surface and the other a tapering arm adapted to fit said recess, the tip of the arm being adapted to engage the apex of the recess and pass under the recessed part, in combination with av rotatable lockingpiece having a peripheral cam adapted to engage the tip of the arm for drawing the arm into the recess and causing the tip and features 16 17 to become engaged, as specified.

FITZALLAN B. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

ANNIE M. ADAMS, R. J. JAoKER. 

